| medialifemagazine.com Alternative media
So what's driving that spending after years of slow growth? Credit improved technology but, just as important, the increasing ubiquity of digital signage in all its forms. It's just about inescapable these days, and that's led more and more advertisers to shift spending to digital. Sixty-seven percent of Americans, or 155.5 million, say that they have encountered some sort of digital out-of-home screen in the past month, according to a new report from Adcentricity, a digital out-of-home vendor. Seventy-six percent noticed screens at multiple venues. And screens in retail locations alone, such as grocery stores, convenience stores and drug stores, reached 53 percent of Americans. Digital is seeing growth from a number of categories, including lottery, credit cards, electronics and political, that had a much smaller presence just a year or two ago. "It's just like in the early days of the internet. Folks went, 'Okay, how does this thing work?'" explains one media buyer. "It took a year or two to get their heads wrapped around, 'How do I use the creative effectively.' But it's accelerating faster than internet advertising accelerated." According to Adcentricity, 42 percent of agency and brand marketers plan to increase DOOH spending during 2009 and the first half of 2010. That will contribute to a 74 percent increase in DOOH spending over the next four years, going from $2.6 billion this year to $4.53 billion in 2013. Perhaps not surprisingly, digital vendors are planning to increase their market coverage in order to attract new advertisers. Thirty-eight percent of active DOOH network operators say they will make investments of $1 million to $10 million in their networks over the next year, the study says. And nearly 20 percent of them plan to expand the number of screens in their network to more than 1,000. There are currently 112 major network operators in the U.S. and 45 in Canada, Adcentricity says. As for what type of screens gain the most notice, the leader is those seen in shopping malls, with roughly 31 percent of respondents, or 72 million people, saying they had seen such a screen in the past month. Grocery stores were second at 30 percent, or 69.6 million, followed by retail or department stores at 29 percent, or 67.3 million. Gas stations were a more distant fourth at 22 percent (51 million), with movie theaters fifth at 21 percent (48.7 million). © 2010 Media Life |
